Late last year NCVER completed its 2019 publication entitled: ‘Apprentice and trainee experience and destinations’
Based on survey findings, completing the training seems to pay off.
Why an apprenticeship or trade?
The survey of just over 11,000 apprentices and trainees found that nearly 57% undertook their apprenticeship or traineeship for employment related reasons. However, nearly 34% did it for training related reasons.
The main reasons apprentices and trainees in trade occupations undertook their training was because they wanted to work in that type of job, and that was equally true for completers and non-completers at around the 38% mark in each case. Others, nearly 20%, did it to gain a recognised qualification or certificate, again equally true for completers and non-completers.
In non-trade areas, the main reasons apprentices and trainees undertook their training was because it was a requirement of their job (around 23% for both completers and non-completers) or they wanted to work in that type of job: around the 19 to 20% mark in each case.
What do the outcomes look like?
According to the survey publication, completing an apprenticeship or traineeship whether a trade or non-trade, seems to pay off. Overall, in 2019 nearly 88% of completers were employed after training and 43% of them were employed in the same occupation as their apprenticeship or traineeship. 84% of them were also employed full time.
In contrast, 74% of non-completers were employed after training – maybe not so bad, but only 21% of these were in the same occupation and only 60% were full timers.
In terms of salary outcomes, again it’s good news for the completers. The survey found that:
“The median annual income for those in trade occupations increased from $45 800 during the last week of their training to $62 800 after completion, a difference of $17 000 [while] non-trade occupations increased from $44 000 to $54 700, a difference of $10 700.”
The salary outcomes for non-completers were not nearly as good.
For completers, the main benefits for undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship were employment related (73%) and personal (around 18%). On the other hand, for non-completers, the main benefits of undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship were less employment related (40%) but more personal (around 27%).
What about satisfaction?
Completing seems to equal satisfaction. The data show that, overall, 88.4% of completers were satisfied with their apprenticeship or traineeship and 88% were satisfied with their off-the-job training. On the other hand, only around half of the non-completers were satisfied, while 63% of them were satisfied with the off-job component.
Why didn’t the non-completers complete?
As has pretty much always been the case, the main reason for non-completion, whether trade or non-trade, is employment related (73%). A further 14% do not complete for personal reasons and 10.5% don’t get there for training related reasons.
There is a bit of difference in why trades and non-trades don’t complete though. For trades, the main reasons were that they didn’t get on with their boss or other people at work (12%) and for a similar percentage it was because they lost their job or were made redundant. For non-trades not completing related to changing career (20%) or being offered a better job (11%). In addition, the survey found higher levels of workplace bullying observed by non-completers than completers (35% vs 21%). Based on these figures, bullying seems to be an issue, however.
The publication has lots of useful tables and there is an Infographic available too. And, if readers of VDC News want to dig deeper into the data, access the data slicer.
